1.c3 is an unambitious move. It opens a diagonal for the queen, but it makes only a timid claim of the center. Also, the pawn on c3 has the disadvantage of taking the c3 square away from the knight. Since White usually plays for the initiative in the opening, the Saragossa is an irregular opening and classified as A00 by the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings.

Black has a number of responses, the most usual being 1...d5, 1...e5 and 1...Nf6.